


Behind the Scenes: Vala's Emrys, Albion's King

by AncientBookLover



Series: Vala's Emrys, Albion's King [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: How Do I Tag, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-08-07 23:14:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7733554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncientBookLover/pseuds/AncientBookLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In-depth explanations into plot points that have confused people, interesting facts about the medieval ages, "Deleted Scenes", Character Index etc. For my Story Vala's Emrys, Albion's King.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Upon looking at the Prologue of Vala’s Emrys, Albion’s King, I know many were confused.  This first installment appeared to have nothing to do with the summary and then, suddenly, in chapter 1, the flow of the story veered sharply on track, almost as if the Prologue never happened.

In my mind, the story I’m telling between the Prologue and Epilogue is the explanation of how Merlin and Arthur reached the point where (a Reborn/reincarnated) Arthur can remember his previous life in its entirety, while (NOT reborn/reincarnated) Merlin cannot. However, I didn’t want this retelling to follow the flow of the original show, too closely. I’ve had two different (three if you include the reincarnation) Fics floating around in my head for quite some time, and suddenly one day, they combined. What once were two partially thought out ideas - that were never going to be made into stories, because I couldn’t find enough of a story line – soldered themselves together so seamlessly I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen the similarities before.

What if the Druids raised Merlin? What if Emrys meant more than he was originally told? What if the supposedly learned and intelligent Magik users were just a bit less helpless? And what if the Druids kept all of this from Merlin?

Suddenly Merlin’s overly cocky nature in the first season is explained, The Dragon and Gaius play less of a role (If Merlin has been taught his whole life about Magik, why would he need two people telling him things he already knows? This isn’t to say they don’t appear/aren’t important; Merlin still has his whole “I’m so humble I have self-esteem issues” thing. In this instance, Gaius goes from being Magik teacher, to father), Merlin makes different choices, because he’s not blindly trusting a Dragon, and knows the Magik the Dragon uses, knows of its flaws. He makes decisions for himself. He makes mistakes for himself.

Camelot will still fall. I have decided that. It’s the pinnacle ending to every Arthurian tale. The _how_ will be different, the lead up will be different, what happens after will be different.

A comment on the relationships in this. I did a lot of research on relationships throughout the Medieval eras (More on that in later episodes). I am still undecided on a few points and a few potential relationships (Mostly surrounding Arthur and Gwen). Yes, this story is Merthur. That is the end game. But I’m going to try and do it as true to what I learned in my research as possible. (A random thought on this: Would you read a JEALOUSGwen story? One where she isn’t as perfect as she was in show?).

Potential chapters? That’s a bit difficult. I’m not doing every episode (some of them just aren’t applicable any longer) and I’m not doing them in the original order (there is a purpose for this). My best guess is I will use about 30 episodes, which I post in two chunks = 60 episodes + Prologue/Epilogue/extra chapters for whatever reason = 65? (I’m in for the long run. Conversely it could be shorter. I have ideas for plot and what has to happen, it’s just deciding what episodes I really have to use). Would you all stick around for a Fic that long?

I will post one chapter here for episode of VE, AK. This should be roughly every other chapter. Having looked farther into AO3’s posting rules, I may not be able to share what quotes I used (Which makes me slightly uncomfortable, and feel like I plagiarized).

To those who have asked: yes, I will try to continue updating VE, AK on FF.net. It is not my favorite platform, and I find it slightly hard to use, but since you have asked for it, I will endure.

The purpose of this Fic: in-depth explanations into plot points that have confused people, interesting facts about the medieval ages, Deleted scenes. I’m thinking about creating a character index of sorts, as I do believe it might get slightly confusing in the later chapters (who is who, who has power over who. Who is potentially good, potentially evil, yada yada yada.), Quotes (if I can).

The next chapter of VE, AK will probably be up in early September. My family is taking a vacation before I have to return to school, and the writing time will be minimal (I like to stay about two chapters ahead of where I’m posting).

Hoping Your Day Treats You Well,

AncientBookLover


	2. The Dragon's Call

There is very little known about when Camelot (assuming it were a real place) and King Arthur existed. Some historians believe they can safely place him between 430 and 500 AD, others believe Camelot and it’s sordid tale happened much later. Because of this, I am going to follow BBC’s route of pulling my favorite parts of different stages of Medieval Europe into this story (IE how Merlin is a manservant nearly 1,000 years before the first recorded manservant). I hope by doing this, I will create a time period that encompasses wholly the ‘medieval ages’, without pointing solely at any one time. Please, understand this is an idealization, and never actually existed (and some facts might not be right. I have done extensive research, but i’m sure I still got things wrong).

Some backstory on Merlin: In my version of events, Balinor shared with Hunith his knowledge of the druids and their tales, so, upon Merlin’s first signs of Magik, she knew he needed to be trained. She also knew he had the worst chance of becoming who he needed to be, were he to stay with her (not to say she knew he was Emrys, just that she knew he was very powerful). She contacted the druids very early in his life (early enough he can barely, if it all remember her) and sent him to live with them. She has not seen him since. She has missed him every day.

Merlin grew up a relatively happy child. He was told by the Druids that he was to one day unite their remaining encampments and become their leader, and thus he must train harder than the other children. He trained long and hard, loving some forms of magik, and being bored by others (just as any child in school). As he grew older, he began taking over more and more of the responsibilities of the leader of their encampment from Iseldir (their chief). Iseldir did this in preparation for Merlin one day fully taking on the mantle of Emrys. By the time Merlin leaves the druids he has nearly taken over (if not completely taken over) all Iseldir’s duties. 

Merlin does not leave because he is kicked out. At around 17 (though depending on circumstances sometimes as young as 16) Druids leave their encampment and spend a year traveling. Whether this is to other encampments or to other kingdoms, is up to them -- think of it as a right of passage: a year spent growing into adulthood, and learning what the world outside druidism has to offer. They can then either return to their encampment, join a new one, or, if they so choose, leave (although they are not cut off for good). Although it is permitted for these teens to stay in other encampments, it is highly encouraged to spend at least the first half of the Weaxung with little to no contact to the surrounding druids. This way you can truly learn to rely on yourself, internalize your teachings, and immerse in the outside world.

Merlin, leaves because he is on his Weaxung. He has reached the year of his Druidic Majority: he has completed his training, learned all the teachings, and passed several other tests. However, because he has the weight of Emrys on him always, he has decided to spend his Weaxung searching for Arthur (well, the Once-And-Future-King). Who he proceeds to (in a very unbelievable twist, I put down to Author error) find in the first week.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion! (also, I completely made the Weaxung up)

After further research, it looks as though I won’t be able to provide a record of the quotes I used for this episode. So instead, I will leave you with some brief numbers: The quotes used in the first two chapters of Vala’s Emrys, Albion’s King equal 892 words of the total chapter, equating to 8% of the final product.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me if there are more errors in this than usual, I read through it only twice. I have an exam tomorrow, and have yet to study, or finish my other assignments.


	3. Chapter 3

_ For those who wonder: Yes, Valiant is one of my least favorite episodes, how could you tell? _

_ The wall I have hit because of this episode has made me look into how I will be writing from here on out. I will be skipping episodes. I'm not sure which as of yet. There’s just no point in forcing myself to write an episode in which nothing changes. I’ve discovered it’s not fun for me. _

Gwynevere's knowledge of Armor, as we all know, is supposed to be uncommonly good. However, in the show, she actually mis-names every piece of armor on Merlin (as far as I remember, he is the one who says “helmet”). I am putting this down to writer and costume department error, as some of the pieces of armor they use don’t even exist. I spent several hours going through different Armory lists, and finding items that looked to be the items Merlin/Arthur were wearing, that came from the same approximate time period (as most of his armor pieces were spread out from all over history, and the globe). I’m sorry if some of these are still the wrong names… just console yourself, as I have, with the fact that they are more correct than they were in the show. 

I also looked up different household duties in a castle (no specific time period, as, at the time Arthur was a prince, he wouldn’t have lived in a castle: They weren’t being built yet) to find what other servants might be doing. The cottar (as is briefly mentioned) is someone who lit all the candles (sometimes even the fires) in the castle in the morning, and then distinguished them again at night. They were usually the elderly, or in other ways “Unfirm” (some sort of disability?) and were given the most menial of tasks (swine-herd, lighting the candles, etc).

Another brief note on medieval servants: Arthur would have had a fleet of servants doing the jobs Merlin does, servants he would most likely never see, and never interact with. It was the ladies of the medieval ages who kept the same servants to attend them all the time -  the lord may have a different servant attend them every day, and never know it. This changes in the 17th/18th century with the invention of the position of Valet, which is what I’m making Merlin out to be -  some sort of valet-ish type person. To me, Merlin’s is a role in the household that Uther made up on the spot: Merlin is the first of his kind (and the only for the next 1000 years or so). This is why Arthur is so frosty to him in the beginning - he has no idea how to treat this boy who suddenly invades his personal space everyday. This is also why Merlin has such outlandish jobs all the time: Arthur has no clue what to make him do - he has no idea what the servants used to do for him, just that they did it. 

Valiant is very forward in this, and he won’t be the only male to not hide his sexual preferences. In the medieval ages (up onto the large-scale spread of Roman Catholicism) it was legal for two men to get married.  In a church. By a priest. 

As far as I could tell, a woman could not marry a woman.

I am taking this knowledge and creating a world around it that does not necessarily celebrate two males together (for there is no chance of an heir being born, of lineages and assets being passed down -- Family lines die out this way) but doesn’t crucify them either. 

All quotes from BBC’s Merlin Episode 2 - Valiant, used in chapter 3 and 4 of Vala’s Emrys, Albion’s King equal 1088 words of the total chapter, equating to 11% of the final product.


	4. Removed for fluidity -- Prologue

Empty. It was empty - That was Harry’s first thought upon entering the old castle. The floors echoed with each step the small tour took, bouncing off the bare stone walls, creating a cacophony of sound behind and in front of them, almost as if a thousand ghosts were trapped in the ancient stone structure. Dark, was his second thought. The walls were shrouded in shadow, the corners hard to discern in the pitch blackness. Harry knew above them there must be a vaulted ceiling of some sort (for what else could trap the sound of their mere footsteps so resiliently), but no amount of eye strain could find an end to the deep abyss.

 

The castle had been discovered recently, and, for a building half buried under the forest floor, was relatively well preserved. The general public had been kept in the dark as to how a large Castle, taking up a large portion of land mass, could have gone unnoticed for so long. Theories abounded as to when it was created, how it got to be covered by the forest floor, and who it was found by, but no one knew for certain. One such story (the most widely accepted, though Harry still had his doubts as to its validity) centered around two young Lovers. These Lovers had been wandering the forest looking for a place to camp for a Romantic weekend, when, to their utmost surprise, one of them fell through the forest floor. The lover, who somehow managed to land perfectly intact, took the time between his spouse calling for help and it arriving to explore what he then assumed to be a cave. It wasn’t long before he realized what he had actually stumbled onto: The Entrance Hall to a Medieval castle.

 

It was later decided that a portion of the forest floor lay on top of a section of the castle roof, which, having had millennia to decay, gave way under the weight of the two lovers and their camping supplies. Almost immediately the castle was bought by a Restoration Company, who (after working for a few years) opened it for Private Tours. The tickets were insanely expensive, but Harry knew if he didn’t jump on the chance to go, he would be missing something big – maybe life changing.

 

Their tour guide – a young bubbly woman – was quickly, and loudly, listing off everything they knew about the structure, which was not much (but for a building still half buried under the ground, it was a surprising amount), her enthusiastic voice only adding to the din of their footsteps. Harry could feel a migraine blooming behind his right eye, a wave of nausea overtaking him.

 

The air was dusty, and hard to breathe. A kind older women, who had earlier told him her name was Gertrude, stopped next to him, asking if he needed anything. Harry quickly shook his head, knowing nothing would stop the migraine’s process now. He continued ahead, jumping the stairs two at a time, catching up with the rest of the group just as they stopped in front of a closed a door. Their tour guide had started nattering on about the scratches in the wood, and along the latch (somehow this was proof of an incompetent servant) when Sean – an American who was quite too full of himself for Harry’s liking – asked the question on everyone’s mind.

 

“Whose castle was this? Like, who owned this place?”

 

One second Harry was standing in a dark, dusty (and somehow at the same time dank) hallway, full of chipped stone, and people he didn’t know, and the next he was being blown back: the hallway had changed – no longer was it dark, but light and airy. The stone was a light cream, one end of the hall housed a mosaic glass window, the door in front of him was nearly new (just as scratched), no longer so decayed one could barely call it a door. The biggest difference, however, was walking in front of him: A Knight – his armor gleamed, his cape billowing. He briefly nodded at Harry, giving a small wink before disappearing around the corner completely out of sight.

 

Without a moments pause to think about what he was doing, whether it was insane, or proved he had finally gone round the bend, Harry took off after the Knight, something inexplicably drawing the two of them together. Behind him he could hear the shouts of the tour, but ahead,  _ oh, ahead _ . Just out of reach, always a turn, a stairwell, or a closed door, in front of him, was the Knight. Harry had no idea where he was going, other than down. He descended step after step, hallway after hallway. Before long, the stone floor gave way to dirt, and he could no longer hear the tour shouting behind him. Harry allowed himself a rest, heaving great lungfuls of chilled dungeon air (for where else could he be?). His lungs were burning, his legs felt as though they were about to fall off, and there was a stitch in his side the size of his house, but in front of him, staring straight at him, was the Knight.

 

The Knight had stopped with him – this gave Harry pause for a second,  _ was _ he crazy? Was the Knight just a figment of his imagination? – and was standing next to a stone archway. Harry studied the Knight for a second, taking in the brown hair, raucous good looks, and the sorrowful downturn of the eyes. He was smiling, the Knight, but what had at first seemed inviting, now seemed sad and almost despondent. The Knight broke eye contact briefly, to glance down the archway, before turning back to Harry. He bowed, low and with the utmost respect, and when he straightened back up, his smile was so blinding in its brilliance Harry almost believed he had imagined the sadness there. And as though he had never been there at all, the Knight was gone, the faintest sound of laughter bouncing around the chamber.

 

Harry cautiously moved from his place at the doorway to the dungeons, towards the stairs (for he could now see the Archway served as an entrance to yet more stairs). He could only assume the sudden disappearance of the Knight meant his journey would soon come to an end. Harry found himself cursing his lack of flashlight; work lights had lit most of his journey, but they did not extend this far down, and these stairs seemed to drop right into the heart of the earth. Taking a calming breath, Harry placed his hand on the stone wall and took his first steps down. The stone was rough and dry, but quickly gave way to smooth slime covered rock walls, the steps too becoming slicker and steeper. Several times he lost his footing, sure he would fall the rest of the way down. The stairs ended on a small landing, leading to what felt like a door, under which Harry could see light – but before he could do so much as reach to touch it, the door was ripped open.

 

In front of Harry was a blond man, wearing the yellow of the touring and restoration company. He seemed to be a rather  _ angry _ blond man, as he was shouting before he had even fully opened the door.

 

“You’re not supposed to be down h – Merlin?”

Suddenly the world tilted on its axis, going dark, and Harry (or was it Merlin?) was falling.

 

* * *

 

Originally I had this included as I intended to take this fic in a direction it has decided (as some finicky fics do) not to go in. I still wish to use it, and keep it part of this verse, but do not think it will be seen until a sequel (if I ever write one).

 

 

 

 


	5. Removed for Fluidity -- Ch. 1 Opening

There is nothing more annoying about living in the forest, than waking up to the birds. Don’t get me wrong - I love birds (I hold the name of one, after all), just not in the morning, barely a candle mark after the sun has risen, when I want to sleep in. A howl in the distance serves as a wake-up call to my sleep addled brain, reminding me there might, in fact, be worse things than the birds – animal attacks, peeing in the open, no escape from the temperature (whatever extreme it may be), and the fact that I’m a Druid.

To the rest of the Five Kingdoms, being a druid equates to an automatic death sentence, whether you have done something wrong or not. We have been driven out of every kingdom, forced to live in small congregations deep in the contested lands of the Forests. Which leads us back to our main topic: birds. In the morning. While I’m trying to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Upon re-reading the first chapter, I decided this section (the original opening paragraphs for "Merlin") was out of character. I wrote it days before the rest of the chapter, before I had a firm idea of my vague outline. In my opinion it didn't flow with the rest of the chapters, or story-line in general, nor did it fit Merlin's character.

I have included it here because it seemed wrong to delete it forever -- it _was_ the inception of this fic.


End file.
